Reverberatory sm elting-furnace



(No Model.) 2 Sheets- Sheet 1,

H. MATHEY. RBVBRBBRATORY SMELTING PURNAGE.

No. 481,703. Patgntd Aug. 30,1892.-

2 Shfeetsnsheet 2' EY.

TING FURNAGE.

HL E TM AAS Y MR Hw A nn... E B R E V E R Patented Aug. 30, 1892. l

UNITED STATES PATENT HENRY MATHEY, OF SOUTH RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA..

REVERBERATORY SMELTlNG-FURNACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 481,703, dated August 30, 1892.

Application filed February 24, 1891. Serial No. 382,444. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern..

Be it known that I, HENRY MATHEY, a citi- Zen of the United States, residing at South Riverside, in the county of San Bernardino, State of California, have invented a new and usefulApparatus for Reducing Ores Containing Tin or other Volatile Metals, of which the following is a specification.

Except in Cornwall, England, black tin is to-day all over the world smelted in blast-furnaces fired with charcoal. The process is simple andthe reduction easy; but the loss is much greater than in the Cornwall process, which is not generally adopted elsewhere on account of the difficulty of obtaining coal of proper quality without paying an exorbitant price therefor. During the smelting of the tin concentrates in both processes the loss by volatilization alone, caused by too high tem perature at times (which is very difficult to control) and also excessive draft, is equal to nine per cent. in the blast-furnace, but is somewhat less in the reverberatory furnace. Another loss of from four to six per cent. is caused by the excessive heat formingavit-reous slag, which contains small globules of tin and particles of cassiterite, which are very difficult to recover.

The object of my invention is to reduce the loss from these two causes (t. e., excessive heat and draft) to a minimum.

A further object of my invention is to produce rapid cooling of the refuse slag after being discharged from the reducing-chamber, so that it can be removed more readily.

The accompanying drawings illustrate means invented by me to accomplish the desired result.

Figure l is a vertical longitudinal mid-section of my improved furnace, a portion of the rear wall thereof being removed to show the arrangement of the tlues. Line a e', Fig. 3, indicates the line of section and line z a', Fig. 3, indicates the line upon which the wall is broken away. Fig. 2 is a transverse section on line @c x, Fig. 3, with a portion of the wall removed to show the flue P. Line yy, Fig. 3, indicates the line upon which the wall is broken away. Fig. 8 is a horizontal section on line y y, Figs. 1 and 2.

My invention comprises the combination of a hydrocarbon-burner and a suitable deing the best results.

fleeting-roof arranged to receive the flame from such burner and direct the heat downward upon the charge to be smelted.

My invention also comprises ahyd rocarbonburning reverberatory furnace having its chamber narrowed by diagonally-arranged walls at the end opposite that at which the dame is introduced and provided with two or more draft-fines opening, respectively, from the chamber through such diagonal wall.

My invention also comprises the combination of a smeltingechamber, a cooling-chamber adapted to receive the refuse from such smelting-chamber and situated adj acent thereto and connected therewith by an intermediate passage, and having one end open to permit free access of air and at its other end connected with a stack or chimney, (or other suitable draft-inducing device may be substituted,) whereby a cooling draft of air is continually applied to the cooling-chamber to rapidly cool the refuse, in order that it may readily be removed.

The ore is placed upon the iron lioorAand mixed with an addition of about twenty per cent. of its weight of crushed coke.

The oil-burners C C C extend into the fur nace from the front through the openings N, provided in the doorframe and Ventilatingdoor, and are each provided with a bearing D', in which is journaled the upper end of the burner-height-regulating screw D. The tap-plate E, through which such screw passes, is rigidly fixed in the wall F of the furnace, and is provided with female threads corresponding to the male threads of the screw D, so thatv by revolving the said screw by means of the hand-wheel Gr the burner will be correspondingly elevated or depressed to direct the dame into the proper position for obtain- The burners may be of any of the well-known forms in successful operation and do not require illustration or description. The adjustment of the burner required to direct the flame so as to secure the best results is very slight, the object being to prevent draft upon the surface of the charge and consequent carrying away of the fine particles of cassiterite and tin. The heat is retlected from the reiiecting-roof 2 and thus 0perates to smelt the ore with scarcely perceptible loss from volatilization. Sometimes when IOO an extra heavy charge of ore is introduced and the surface thereof is elevated above the usual plane occupied by the surface of a charge the lower portion of the iiame from the burner may be thus brought so near to the surface of the charge as to produce a draft. In such cases the burner is elevated by turning the hand-wheel G sufficiently to remedy the difficulty.

The Ventilating-doors I-I are hinged at the top to the door-frames I by hinges J. Near the center of such doors are provided the 1snglass-covered openings K, through which the operator observes the charge while the reduction is taking place. These doors are also each provided with a pivoted arm Il, the upper end of which arm engages the serrations M on the door-frame to allow adjustment of the door to admit the proper quantity of air to the furnace.

In the rear of the furnace, in place of one central aperture communicating with the flue, I provide two apertures N O-one on each side of the rear of the furnace-each opening into the main flue through short intermediate lues P Q, arranged diagonal to the direction of the flame, so that the draft will not be so direct. In reverberatory furnaces as usually constructed there is difficulty in securing equal distribution of the heat to all parts of the chamber on account of the central due causing a central concentration of the draft. By my arrangement of the iues the heat is equally distributed on each side of the chamber and superior results obtained thereby.

In case the tendency of the draft is to pass through the fiue Q, on account of its opening into the main Hue R nearer the stack or chimney R than the tlue N, I Aprovide a door S in the rear of the furnace, through which I introduce fire-brick sufficient to close the aperture of such flue to cause equal distribution of the draft. The floor T of the reverberatory chamber is inclined to cause the molten metal to flow into the receptacle u.

By using crushed coke as the reducing agent there is a much greater yield of metal than when anthracite coal or charcoal is used as such agent, which superiority is no doubt burners are regulated to direct the iiame at the proper point between the charge and the crown of the arch. The ventilatingdoors are opened suciently to admit the air necessary for perfect combustion, and when once regulated there is no occasion to disturb the doors until the reduction is complete. The amount of oil admitted to the burner is regulated from the exterior of the furnace, and the operator can determine by a glance through the openings K whether there is too great a degree of heat or not enough, and can increase or diminish the flow of oil to the burners or the amount of air admitted to the furnace, as he may desire. Vhen the reduction is completed, the slag is discharged through the opening e, which is closed by the lid h, into the chamber-f, which communicates with a chimney or stack R by means of the opening g. The heat from such slag causes a draft in the chimney or stack and a consequent rapid circulation of air and cooling of such slag, thus enabling it to be removed with less inconvenience than by the old methods.

It is obvious that my improved furnace may be adapted to various other uses besides the reduction of tin ores, and I do not limit myself thereto.

Now havingdescribed myinvention, whatI claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. A reverberatory furnace comprising the combination of a hydrocarbon-burner, a suitable dei'lecting-roof arranged to receive the flame from such burner and direct the heat downward upon the charge to be smelted, and a chamber narrowed by diagonally-arranged walls at the end opposite that at which the flame is introduced and provided with two or more draft-dues opening, respectively, from the chamber through such diagonal walls.

2. A hydrocarbon-burning reverberatory furnace having its chamber narrowed by diagonally-arranged walls at the ends opposite that at which the flame is introduced and provided with two or more draft-fiues opening, respectively, from the chamber through such diagonal walls.

It. A hydrocarbon-burning reverberatory furnace having its chamber narrowed by diagonally-arrauged walls at the end opposite p that at which the flame is introduced, two or more draft-dues opening, respectively, from the chamber through such diagonal walls, and means for partially closing one or more of such flues to direct the draft toward the other draft iiue or ilues.

HENRY MA'lI-IEY. Witnesses:

M. M. GEE, ALFRED I. TowNsuND.

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